[CPProt.net] Looting Iraq: A Conversation With Museum Director Donny George

[MusSecNetworkCulPropProtNet]

Looting Iraq: A Conversation With Museum Director Donny George  

Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- For Iraqi archaeologists, these are stressful times.
While some of the artifacts stolen from the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad
have been returned, theft and systematic looting continue at archaeological
sites throughout the country, especially in the south.

Safeguarding the heritage of Iraq -- the cradle of the civilized world --
requires the assistance of U.S. organizations at a time when it is dangerous
for Iraqis to associate openly with Americans.

Looters are steadily digging up ancient statues, tablets and other artifacts
from more than 10,000 sites, said Donny George, Iraq's director of museums.
Earlier this month, he attended the Archaeological Institute of America's
annual meeting in Boston and gave a press conference at the headquarters of
the World Monuments Fund, a New York-based non-profit.

Of the estimated 15,000 artifacts taken from the National Museum during the
invasion, which began in March 2003, only about 4,000 have been recovered.

To help track lost items and document what remains, the Iraqi State Board of
Antiquities and Heritage is creating a database of Iraqi cultural and
archaeological sites with the help of the WMF and the Los Angeles-based
Getty Conservation Institute, an arm of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

George, 54, is a native Iraqi who has worked for the Iraqi heritage board as
an archaeologist for 28 years. He spoke with Bloomberg's Philip Boroff by
telephone from Boston.

Saddam's Ego

Boroff: Did Saddam Hussein take good care of Iraq's cultural heritage?

George: Not really. It was for the sake of his own image, to put himself in
the line of ancient leaders of Iraq. There were projects ordered by him
built on archaeological sites.

Boroff: Were you surprised about the looting when the war started?

George: I thought the Americans would take better care. I myself had
information that there were people gathered in London, waiting for the day
the U.S. entered. Maybe their (hired) hands were sent to Iraq.

Boroff: Was the looting of the museum an inside job?

George: Some of the looters had information from inside the museum. The ones
who went inside the storerooms must have had information to get what they
wanted.

Disappeared

Boroff: What's still missing?

George: They took every kind of ancient material: cylinder seals (used to
stamp legal documents and record images onto clay), jewelry, statues,
pottery. One very important piece of ivory represents a lioness with a
Nubian, inlaid with gems. It's from 800 B.C. from Nimrud. There's also a
headless, half-sized statue of a Sumerian king made of stone.

Boroff: What market is there for this?

George: There's no legal market for stolen material. Since 1936, Iraqi law
has forbidden selling antiquities. It is well- known worldwide that Iraqi
antiquities are not for sale.

Boroff: How many of Iraq's archaeological sites have been damaged?

George: I don't have an estimate, but a lot in the southern part of the
country. Some are completely damaged. Umma is about eight square kilometers,
a Sumerian city, with pits and holes all over the site. If you see an aerial
photo, you will imagine a lunar surface.

Sumer

Boroff: How are these sites valuable to world civilization?

George: An archaeological site is a kind of a book. This book has to be read
page by page. If you destroy these pages, you lose a tremendous amount of
information. The southern part of the country is part of Sumer, the first
civilization. They are destroying the beginning of mankind.

Boroff: Are U.S. bombs damaging your heritage?

George: Ninety-nine percent of the damage is by the looters.

Boroff: How will a database help?

George: We will engage people to monitor and manage. It will include having
people all over the area. We have started the facility protection systems
police. Their duty is to control the archaeological sites. We have 1,750.
Most have guns. Some have cars. They are not enough. We need three or four
times that.

Boroff: The killing of Iraqi police must make recruiting more difficult.

Courage

George: Yes, but many Iraqis are courageous enough to be recruited to
protect these sites.

Boroff: Do you personally use security to get to work?

George: If you have protection, you will have eyes on you. We are using our
personal cars to come and go. When I go out from home I pray. I don't know
if I'll make it or not. It's the same when I go home. You don't know if
you'll be trapped in a shooting or be a target yourself.

Boroff: Do think of leaving Iraq?

George: I have more relatives outside the country than inside. But I'm a
specialist in archaeology, and I can't leave my country. I believe 100
percent in this.

Boroff: Should the elections this month be postponed?

George: I think they should postpone the election for something like six
more months, just to give more time for the Iraqi national guards and police
and U.S. forces to cut off these insurgents. If they postpone the election,
they could give more time for the forces to finish the job. We might lose a
lot of people coming to the polls.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Philip Boroff in New York  pboroff at bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Manuela Hoelterhoff in New York at  mhoelterhoff at bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 14, 2005 00:01 EST

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